One large theme in this movie is the mixing of the sacred and the profane. In this essay I am going to prove that over the course of the movie The Godfather (1972), directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) transform from a young man completely uninterested in his family’s business into the ruthless Don of his family. As Don of the Corleone family, Michael is constantly scheming to ensure the survival of his family over the other families in New York. Coppola’s mixing of the sacred and the profane helps to show Michael’s transformation into Don Corleone. Over the course of the movie the presence of the profane grows thus causing a decline and subsequent death of the sacred. At the beginning of the movie Michael tells his
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Right off Michael shows a lack of interest in his family’s affairs through his unwillingness to engage Kay in a conversation about Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana). Finally, Kay gets Michael to tell her the story of how Vito got Johnny Fontane (Al Martino) out of his contract when he was younger. The story involved Vito and Luca threatening the manager with a gun. Michael is ashamed of his family’s involvement in criminal activities and tells Kay, “That’s my family Kay, it’s not me” (The Godfather, 1972). He feels that he is only related to his family in name due to his desire to stay out of the family business. Paired with Michael’s dislike of the family business there is a strong sense of the family during the wedding. Many people are socializing and having a good time with their relatives and friends. This familial element represents the sacred elements of the movie but amongst the sacred sense of family there is a dark underside represented by the crime. Michael’s family anecdote represents the profane elements of the film. Because the wedding is a superficial representation of the family due to the fact the real family business involving crime occur behind closed doors in a dark …show more content…
Michael wants to kill both of them because the captain is corrupt and he deals with Sollozzo in illegal activities. After he kills both of them Vito sends Michael to Italy in order to keep him safe. This move to Sicily slows his transformation into a member of the mob because he is isolated from the family and the violence that follows. While in Sicily he falls in love with Apollonia and marries her. She is Michael’s last chance for a life separate from the family business. However Apollonia is killed in an attempt on Michael’s life and with nothing left for him in Sicily he returns to American to assume the position as head of the Corleone family. At this point Michael has fully transformed into a member of the family and will carry on the family business. As the new Godfather, Michael displays the ruthless side of the title by acting as the Don of the Corleone Family rather than being the gracious and caring person a Godfather can be. This is seen in the baptism seen of Carlo’s (Gianni Russo) newborn son. During the baptism Michael has hitmen assassinate the leaders of the 5 families in New York. The movie cuts between Michael answering the Priest’s questions about him renouncing Satan and the murders. This shows the profane actions of violence dominating the sacred tradition of being named
Right off Michael shows a lack of interest in his family’s affairs through his unwillingness to engage Kay in a conversation about Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana). Finally, Kay gets Michael to tell her the story of how Vito got Johnny Fontane (Al Martino) out of his contract when he was younger. The story involved Vito and Luca threatening the manager with a gun. Michael is ashamed of his family’s involvement in criminal activities and tells Kay, “That’s my family Kay, it’s not me” (The Godfather, 1972). He feels that he is only related to his family in name due to his desire to stay out of the family business. Paired with Michael’s dislike of the family business there is a strong sense of the family during the wedding. Many people are socializing and having a good time with their relatives and friends. This familial element represents the sacred elements of the movie but amongst the sacred sense of family there is a dark underside represented by the crime. Michael’s family anecdote represents the profane elements of the film. Because the wedding is a superficial representation of the family due to the fact the real family business involving crime occur behind closed doors in a dark …show more content…
Michael wants to kill both of them because the captain is corrupt and he deals with Sollozzo in illegal activities. After he kills both of them Vito sends Michael to Italy in order to keep him safe. This move to Sicily slows his transformation into a member of the mob because he is isolated from the family and the violence that follows. While in Sicily he falls in love with Apollonia and marries her. She is Michael’s last chance for a life separate from the family business. However Apollonia is killed in an attempt on Michael’s life and with nothing left for him in Sicily he returns to American to assume the position as head of the Corleone family. At this point Michael has fully transformed into a member of the family and will carry on the family business. As the new Godfather, Michael displays the ruthless side of the title by acting as the Don of the Corleone Family rather than being the gracious and caring person a Godfather can be. This is seen in the baptism seen of Carlo’s (Gianni Russo) newborn son. During the baptism Michael has hitmen assassinate the leaders of the 5 families in New York. The movie cuts between Michael answering the Priest’s questions about him renouncing Satan and the murders. This shows the profane actions of violence dominating the sacred tradition of being named